NICKEL

Native Nickel is extremely rare in nature, as it is almost always alloyed with
iron. Iron meteorites, for example, are typically 6% to 20% nickel.

About 30% of the nickel mined on Earth comes from the Sudbury Astrobleme, a
large impact crater in southern Canada (the city of Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
lies along the southern rim and is known as the nickel city). A large
(10km) nickel-iron meteorite apparently struck here about 1.85 billion years
ago, and the rich metal deposits are what remain of the meteorite.

In 1967 native nickel was identified in samples from Bogata in New Caledonia. It forms in serpentinized ultramafic rocks from low-temperature hydrothermal activity.
It has since been identified from a number of other locations, including meteor
strikes.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS:

Color is bluish white.

Luster is metallic.

Transparency is opaque.

Crystal System is isometric

Crystal Habits crystal form is extremely rare; cubic when found, but generally granular or massive.